David McNeill

Athlete:

David McNeill

Based out of Melbourne, Australia David has represented Australia since 2004 and has competed at the highest level in both the 5,000m and 10,000m distances.

Whats your ultimate finish line?

The next personal best.

What are you most proud of?

My two Olympic team appearances.

Who is to thank/blame for introducing you to your sport? Tell us your history to how it all began, how you got to where you are now.

Thank and blame are equally important words here. Tom - my first coach for instilling a life-long love of the sport. And Julian Marsh - long time friend and club mate, who took me on my first training camp to Falls Creek, and showed me what was possible beyond my schoolboy days of athletics.

What gets you out of bed in the morning and drives your passion to keep pushing yourself and chasing your finish lines?

It is now a deeply engrained component of my identity. I feel most alive when running, especially on trails and through nature. I am happiest and the best version of myself after a run, which I consider an important prerequisite to being my best self in all other aspects of life - with friends, family, loved ones, and at work.

Given our ambition as a brand is to create a fitter and healthier world, how are you going to make the world a fitter and healthier place?

My professional and personal goal - as a runner and as a physiotherapist - is to help build a community united by a love of the run.

Health is multifactorial. We focus so often on physical and mental health quite separately, and often disregard the health of our spirit/soul/identity/whatever you want to call it.

My goal - through running myself, through writing, and through my work as a physio - is to promote running as a vehicle for better, physical, mental, and spiritual health. My goal is to address each of these components of health together rather than separately. My goal is to bring people together in this endeavour, and promote a sense of community and communal strength in being/becoming healthier.

Kira HedgelandMarcell Walkington Back to the team